By Richard Johnstone | 9 January 2014
The government remains on course to save £1.7bn a year through moving more government services online, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said today as he announced that driving licence records would be digitised within weeks.
Maude added that the coalition would save £500m from its spending on information technology in the current financial year, and would reach the target to save a total of £1.2bn through digitisation by 2015.
The 25 services expected to be online by the end of next year include applications for student loans and apprenticeships, in addition to existing services such as self-assessment tax returns.
Savings will then rise to as much as £1.7bn a year after the next general election when more services are included in the plans, Maude added.
‘Our digital-by-default agenda is part of our long-term economic plan to tackle the deficit we inherited. I’m pleased to announce today that we expect to save at least £500m from IT spend this year, on top of the £500m we saved from government’s IT spend last year and £250m the year before.
‘Back in 2010 our digital offering was limited at best and government IT was a by-word for disaster. There are still challenges but with the help of the Government Digital Service I am determined that the UK will be the G8’s most digital government by next year.’
Placing driving records online will allow all motorists to access information about their driving licence online, and is also intended to cut insurance premiums by allowing firms to look up records more easily.
The scheme will be launched for public testing in the next few weeks, and should be fully operational in June.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency chief executive Oliver Morley said the development would make greater use of digital tools to deliver services.
